High School Sweethearts
by Colebole
Summary: AU They met one night when Yuffie stole his wallet. But what happenes when hes the hot new kid at school? Will he realize its her that stole it? Will he discover that under his feelings of annoyance there's something else? Squiffe! Please R
1. Prologue

-H i g h - S c h o o l - S w e e t h e a r t s-

- p r o l o g u e -

It was just like any other Sunday afternoon. The sun was beginning to settle down below the horizon. The light was still streaming in through the colossal windows of the castle in the small town of Hollow Bastion. It was by the light of one of these windows that 16, nearly 17 year old, Yuffie Kisaragi sat in one of the large arm chairs reading a book on the art of shuriken throwing.

She was a rather petite girl with short black hair and a black and white headband tied in it. Her deep ocean blue eyes scanned the pages while one hand held the pouch of shuriken that she had unclipped from her belt. The other hand was absent mindedly twirling her short hair. She was wearing crème colored cargo pants with a black zip up hoodie bearing the mascot of Hollow Bastion High School, the chocobo. She was sitting in the chair with her legs bent and feet on the edge of the cushion with the book resting on her thighs.

She would often come to the library to escape from everyone else that lived in the castle. After she was abandoned on the streets by her drug addicted mother when she was only 4, she was lucky to be found by Aerith, who was one year older, on her way back to the castle. Aerith had brought her back to the castle and shown her to Cid, the man that had lived there for as long as anyone could remember. Cid had (and still does) thought that she was just another annoying kid, but he couldn't just leave her out on the streets, so he took her in. Over the years, Aerith had taken a liking to Yuffie (even if she doesn't always show it) and even considers her as her younger sister.

It had always been a mystery as how Aerith had come to live at the castle but Yuffie figured that it had been under similar circumstances, and that she had just needed a place to stay. Aside from Cid, Aerith, and Yuffie, only one other person had joined them at the castle. His name was Cloud. He had come last year on a stormy night, when he was just barely 17. The winds were howling and the rain was coming down in thick, heavy sheets. Every now and then there was a loud clap of thunder followed almost immediately by a blinding flash of lightning. Aerith and Yuffie had been scrambling around to secure any loose objects that may damage the castle if scooped up by the winds, when they noticed a boy slumped over outside of the castle gates. He appeared to be severely injured. The girls quickly got Cid to help and they laid the boy in an empty bed in the castle.

Aerith had been studying healing and medicine since before Yuffie arrived, so her healing abilities came into great use when helping the boy. Aerith refused to leave his bedside until he awoke the next morning. Since that first moment their eyes met, they have been in love. It often times made Yuffie want to gag herself at the sight of them. Yuffie had often dreamed of the kind of guy that she would meet and fall in love with. She had no idea, however, how wrong her fairy tale dreams were.


	2. A Most Peculiar Meeting

-c h a p t e r - o n e – a – m o s t – p e c u l i a r – m e e t i n g-

Yuffie was sitting in the library of the castle in Hollow Bastion reading her books on various aspects of the way of the ninja. She found that these types of books held her interest much more than her school books. _Damn! Today's Sunday! I still haven't finished my Physics assignment!_ She sighed. It wasn't that she was a bad student; she just didn't really find the need to study things like Physics or Calculus when all she ever wanted to amount to in life was becoming the best ninja in all of Hollow Bastion! _Whatever, I'll just have to do it later…Or maybe I can copy someone's assignment tomorrow before class starts…_ she thought with a slight smile as she remembered that Sora still owed her after she saved him from the wrath of their gym teacher. _Everything will just have to work itself out._ Was the final thought she allowed herself on the matter before she continued to read the chapter about how to wound but not kill.

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The sound of an opening door, followed by a girl's laughter pulled Yuffie out of her reading. In annoyance Yuffie looked up and rolled her eyes. She hadn't realized how long she'd been reading. The sun was barely visible over the horizon. It would be dark in just a few minutes. Yuffie couldn't wait for the summer because it was warm and the days were so much longer.

She heard the two sets of footsteps, whom she thought must belong to Aerith and Cloud, getting closer to her favorite reading nook in the entire library. Yuffie loved this one because there was only one armchair (currently occupied by herself) and one couch, so she figured that since it was the smallest it held the least chance of her being disturbed. _What could they possibly be doing all the way over here? The books that anyone reads are mostly on the second level_. She just shrugged in answer to her own question and turned on the reading lamp to finish the chapter she was on in her book.

The footsteps got a little bit closer and then stopped an aisle or two from her nook. It was quiet for a second or two and then Yuffie could hear muffled moans and kissing sounds. _Aww, come on! Is this for real? Can't they find some other place to have their little make out sessions than MY part of the library?_ This was really making Yuffie mad. She was getting more and more agitated every second it lasted. But after only a few seconds it stopped and it was quiet. Yuffie smiled thinking that somehow her telepathic message had been heard, and returned to her reading.

She heard the footsteps again and didn't bother to use her ninja perception abilities to find out what direction Cloud and Aerith were heading. Yuffie just assumed they were leaving the library. However, they were doing just the opposite. Before Yuffie could even react, Cloud and Aerith were on the couch in her reading nook making out furiously. _This is SO over the line!!_ Yuffie thought angrily as she threw her book to the floor, startling the couple who were just now noticing her.

"Yuffie! Wait!" Aerith called after the ninja as she stormed out of the library without even so much as a backward glance.

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The cool night air felt so nice on Yuffie's face. She was sitting on a rooftop overlooking an alley that was often used as a shortcut between the shopping district and the residential area. The sun had already set, and it had been over an hour since the scene in the library. She was still in a bad mood and hadn't dared to return to the castle until she had calmed down a bit. _I really shouldn't be mad at Cloud and Aerith. It's not their fault they're in love. _She reasoned with herself. _But, they definitely need to take in their surroundings before just going at each other like that. _Yuffie sighed as another cool breeze of spring air washed over her. _No, I'm not mad at Cloud and Aerith for being in love. I guess I'm just mad at myself for not being in love. _The young ninja frowned at this thought. _Yeah, I guess what it really comes down to is that I'm jealous of them… Ah! This sucks! It really, really does! Am I ever going to fall in love? Damn, why is like every guy around my age in Hollow Bastion afraid of me? … Hmmmm… Maybe I do come off a little strong sometimes…_ This thought seemed to frustrate Yuffie. She sighed. _Maybe some target practice would help me to calm down a bit._

As she rose from her spot on the roof, she noticed a kid walking down the alley. He seemed very unfamiliar and he was mumbling to himself, "Down the road, second left. Straight, then take a right… Dammit! I'm freakin' lost!" Yuffie watched him with a smile. _Hah! Guess I found my target. Although, it has been a while since I practiced my pick-pocket skills._

Yuffie crouched down and removed a shuriken from the pouch on her belt. _Why do I always pick the worst days to not carry my big shuriken with me? _She thought in annoyance. _Oh, well, he seems like an easy target any ways. Clearly he's not from around here._ She waited until the kid was about to walk by her, before standing up and throwing the shuriken so that it landed just in front of him. Startled, he froze.

Yuffie jumped off the roof and stood behind him. She had to stand on her tiptoes to hold another shuriken to his throat. The kid immediately tensed up. He was tall with dark colored hair that ended at the base of his neck. He was wearing a jacket with fur on the collar that ended at about the middle of his abdomen, a t-shirt that went lower than the jacket to the waist band of his pants, a pair of dark jeans with one too many belts, and large combat boots. He was also wearing extremely good smelling cologne that was so sweet it was almost orgasmic. Yuffie wanted to stand there forever and take in the scent. _Focus stupid! Let's get this over with! Take his wallet and be done with it!_ She reminded herself.

She tried to keep her voice flat and emotionless, despite the nervousness that was building inside her, "Haven't seen you around here before, you new in town?"

The kid only grunted a response.

"Not a talker, huh? Alright, let's get this over with. Gimme your wallet."

The kid reached around and Yuffie slid over a step to allow him to reach into his pocket. He pulled out his walled and held his arm out so Yuffie could take it. She did, and quickly pocketed it. Another thought came to Yuffie causing her to smile. _I could use a new belt, and he has so many. I doubt it he'll miss just one…_

"Ok, last thing. Gimme one of your belts. That one right there," she said as she tapped one of his studded belts.

The kid sighed and then began to undo his belt. He held it out for her, just as he had done with the wallet, and she quickly snatched it up out of his hand.

"Ok then, just keep walking down this alley. Don't look back and just for future reference, it's probably not a good idea for you to roam around unarmed and all alone at night. There are far worse people out there than me."

The kid just nodded and then took off at a fast walk down the alley. Yuffie waited until he was gone before picking up her shuriken that she had used to stop him.

_Wow, it's gotten pretty late…Guess I had better head back._ Yuffie began her walk back to the castle. _The Greatest Ninja in all of Hollow Bastion strikes again! Oh yeah! Victory dance! Well, that definitely helped to improve my mood. That was weird though. Who was that kid? I'm pretty sure I've never seen him before. Hmmm…Whatever, guess I'll find out sooner or later. Now, what to do about facing Cloud and Aerith… No, I don't want to face them tonight and I definitely don't need Aerith lecturing me about stealing._ At this thought, Yuffie quickly fastened the belt around her waist and clutched the wallet tightly in her hand.

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_Time for me to use my ninja skills again and sneak back to my room!_ Yuffie was excited at this thought. Using her ninja techniques always made her happy. As quietly as she could, Yuffie opened up the heavy wooden doors to the castle. She shut the door, barely making a squeak and then ran as fast (and quietly) as she could up to the hallway where all their bedrooms were located.

Now, Yuffie was presented with the real challenge. All four of the bedroom doors were open, even hers. _Aerith must have been cleaning again. That means that she could be in any of the rooms. Cid is definitely not here, but Cloud could be in either his room or with Aerith. This will be tricky, but nothing that the Best Ninja in all of Hollow Bastion can't handle!_

Since her room was the very last door in the hall she would have to be extremely quiet and try to suppress her breathing and sounds just until she made it to the end of the hall. She took one last deep breath before beginning to quickly, but quietly move down the hall.

First open door successfully passed! Cid's room was first. Empty. The room had only the bare essentials and Aerith kept it nice and clean. The man hardly used it because he was always working at his auto shop or fixing cars in his garage. Yuffie let out a sigh. One down, three to go. Yuffie drew in another breath and began to move slowly and silently down the hall. Next door was Cloud's room. There was a good chance that at least one of them, if not both, would be in there. Yuffie quickly dashed by before Cloud could even look up from the book he was reading. _Phew, that was close…but where's Aerith at?_

The last door was Aerith's room. Yuffie would have to be even faster this time. She pressed herself even more so against the wall and took in one last breath before breaking off into an all out sprint to her room. Without even looking around she slammed the door shut and collapsed against it breathing hard. She turned the brown leather wallet over in her hands as she caught her breath. Slowly she looked up and saw none other than Aerith staring wide-eyed back at her. She had been in the process of folding Yuffie's clean clothes.

"Uh, hey Yuffie. Where you been? There's a plate of dinner saved for you in the kitchen when you get hungry. What's in your hands?" Aerith's voice was rather surprised. She was eyeing the wallet in Yuffie's nervous hands. "Uh, Yuf, is that a man's wallet? You haven't been stealing again have you?" Her tone was accusing as she stared intently at the ninja. Aerith seemed to have been born with a maternal sixth sense.

"Th…this? It's…uh, its, uh…Soras! Yeah, Soras! He, uh, left it at the café that we ate at tonight. I was, uh, just holding onto it to give to him tomorrow." She stammered nervously. She was still working on her coming-up-with-things-on-the-spot skills. But, then, the scene in the library came back to Yuffie and she remembered that she was supposed to act mad at Aerith. "And what's it matter to you what I do in my spare time? I'll steal if I want to! You're not my mother. In fact, it's because of my mother that I steal, so who're you to lecture me about my habits?"

Aerith looked sorry that she'd said anything. She was fighting back tears. "Sorry, Yuf, I just thought, I don't know…I was just looking out for you. That's all. Sorry for being concerned about you." And with that Aerith left Yuffie's partially folded laundry and walked out the door.

_Maybe I took it too far. Whatever, she'll forget about it by morning. Now, let's see what's in this wallet._ Yuffie carefully opened the wallet. There was an old student ID, a Moogle-Mart savings card, a debit card, and about 50 munny. She pulled out the student ID to reveal an extremely good looking kid with longish brown hair and deep blue eyes. The only blemish on his amazing face was a scar that stretched across the bridge of his nose diagonally.

_Damn! This must be my lucky day! _Yuffie thought excitedly. She didn't even realize that she was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. The school ID was from Traverse Town High School, which was only a few towns over. It was from last year's school year and it said that he was a junior at the time. _Hmm…maybe he's transferred to Hollow Bastion High! That would explain why he's lost. So, that means he'll be a senior this year. Good, maybe he won't recognize me since I'm only a junior. _The last thing printed on the ID was his name. It read Squall Leonhart. _Squall…Squall Leonhart…_ she repeated his name over and over in her head. It had a nice ring to it.

Yuffie glanced over at her clock. It read 11:37pm. She hadn't realized how late it'd gotten. _Oh well, time for bed. School tomorrow. Hope it's interesting…cause I really hate when it's boring._ Yuffie set the wallet on her nightstand, after saying goodnight to the gorgeous photo of course, quickly climbed into her bed, and turned out the light. She had no idea just how interesting school would be tomorrow.


	3. School Sucks

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed and favorited this story! Sorry it took so long to get the next chapter up!**

**Enjoy!**

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-c h a p t e r – t w o – s c h o o l – s u c k s – 

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Yuffie looked groggily up at her alarm clock. 7:00am. She slowly sat up, yawning the whole time. It was Monday once again. She found her uniform which was a white button up short sleeved shirt, a black and white plaid skirt, and a black tie. She quickly got dressed and was about to leave her room when something caught her eye. It was the belt she had stolen yesterday. She hadn't noticed it last night but it was missing a stud in the back. She hoped she hadn't been the cause of that. With a shrug she fastened it around her waist and pulled the white shirt down over it. Adding anything to the school uniform was a violation, so she hoped it wouldn't show. _Wonder what Aerith's making for breakfast!_

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"Hey Yuffie! Wait up!" Yuffie turned around to see a kid with a huge head of brown spiky hair running to catch up with her.

"Hey Sora! Whatsup?" she said to the boy as he struggled now to catch his breath at the school gates. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, come on, we're gonna be late for Physics!" Sora managed to get out once his breathing had slowed.

"Kay, let's go!" Yuffie replied as they began to walk to their first period class. Sora was Yuffie's best friend and they were both juniors. He was also the only guy who didn't seem nervous or afraid around Yuffie (other than Cloud). Yuffie and Sora had all of the same classes and they had the same lunch as Aerith and Cloud, who were seniors.

They made it to their seats just as the last bell rang. They sat at the very back of the class at the last row of tables before the lab tables began. Their row had three seats, so there was one empty seat next to Yuffie and it was the only empty seat in the whole classroom.

"Quiet down now! The bells rung, class has begun!" The door slammed shut behind their teacher Mrs. Belle. She was a medium height woman with a very kind heart. People took her class if they needed a grade boost because she never gave anyone below a "B" because she felt too bad.

As she began her lesson on electrical currents, Yuffie and Sora began their daily routine of note passing.

_So how was your weekend?_ Sora wrote to start off their note.

_Uh…same old, same old. You know the usual, practiced with my shuriken and stole from a kid._ Was Yuffie's response.

_Stole!?!?!?! From who? And whatcha get?_

_I got a wallet (obvs) and his belt. I didn't know the kid, he seemed lost. Look over here after you finish reading this and I'll show you the belt._

After reading, Sora looked over and Yuffie showed him her prize.

_Pretty nice! My weekend was lame. Except that I did have the same shift as Kairi. That was cool! I hope I get to know her well enough to ask her to prom…Crap…that's in like two months! Any ideas on who you'll go with?_

As he passed the note to Yuffie, the door to the classroom opened. In walked Aerith and following her was none other than Squall Leonhart, the very kid that Yuffie had stolen from.

Yuffie let out a little yelp and squirmed in her seat. "Oh shit!" Sora heard Yuffie whisper and he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Yuffie quickly scribbled onto the paper. _That's the kid I stole from! What am I gonna do?_

Aerith finished talking to Mrs. Belle, walked over to Squall, handed him a piece of paper and then waved to Yuffie as she left the room. _Great, thanks Aerith. Now he's looking right at me. Okay Yuffie, pull it together. Don't panic. Don't look suspicious. Stop sweating! Well get through this. Don't look suspicious! But he's looking at me with those eyes! Damn those amazing eyes! Focus Yuffie! Look away from him!_

It sucked to be a new kid here because you really stuck out for your first few days. New kids had to wait to get a uniform so they were usually a target for a lot of hazing and comments. Squall was wearing the same outfit as yesterday, except he was missing one belt. He definitely would have some trouble blending in today.

Squall looked around the room as he awkwardly shifted his weight. Clearly he didn't like being stared at by a class full of curious students. Mrs. Belle finished whatever she was writing and looked up to address the class.

"Today we have a new student. This is Squall Leonhart." She looked over at him with a reassuring smile.

"Leon." He muttered.

"What's that?" She asked him.

"I go by Leon, not Squall." He answered as politely as he could.

"Okay. Uh…let's see. Take that empty seat next to Yuffie in the back there." Mrs. Belle pointed to Yuffie and Squall began to make his way out back.

"Oh shit, oh shit! Why me?" Yuffie whispered to Sora.

Sora was clearly enjoying this whole situation. He just smiled at her and shoved the note they had been passing under his notebook as the new kid headed for his seat in their row. Sora did all he could to keep in the laughter at the sight of Yuffie's face. It was one mixed with terror and pain.

She leaned over and whispered to him, "Sora, what'll I do if he recognizes me?"

"He probably won't," Sora tried to sound reassuring. "It was night wasn't it? So how could he possibly recognize you?"

He turned to Squall who was now taking his seat to Yuffie's right. "Heya! I'm Sora. And this is Yuffie." He said in a friendly voice.

"Hi." Was all Yuffie could answer without looking at him.

"Leon." Came the monotone reply.

_Oh man! He's wearing that cologne again! If I'm not careful I'm definitely going to do something stupid. I've got to smile or move or something. Wow, I bet I look so suspicious right now. Okay, okay, we can get through this! I've got to…to….uh…to…Say something! Yeah! Make some conversation! That's it! …So…what do I say?_

"Uh…s-so w-where you from?" Yuffie stammered. _Nice going genius. Now he's looking at you like you've got six heads. Just don't look into those gorgeous eyes! _She tried to look at Squall for his reply but she couldn't bring herself to do it and ended up looking off into the middle of the room.

"Traverse Town." Was all he replied. He was still looking at her and his eyes felt like they were burning holes into her head.

He was taking her in, sizing her up. He thought that she was cute since she was all nervous around him. The way that she wouldn't meet his eyes, he found that cute too. It was weird, but he felt that there was something familiar about her, like he knew her from somewhere. He shrugged it off thinking that he was probably freaking her out staring at her like this. As he was turning his head back to the board, something caught his eye.

His eyes settled right at her hips. Here he could see the edge of a black belt sticking out from under her shirt.

"Do all the kids here wear belts under their shirts?" Squall asked keeping his voice monotone despite the amusement that he felt.

Yuffie stiffened. _Shit! This is bad! This is really bad! Okay Yuf, you've gotta chill out! Ninjas don't freak out like this! Pull yourself together! Say something totally witty in reply to that question! Something that'll teach him to mess with the Greatest Ninja in all of Hollow Bastion!_

"Uh…no…well, yeah…well, only the cool ones." _Great, that was like the stupidest thing ever said!_

"Smooth." Sora whispered.

Yuffie shot him a glare before pulling the back of her shirt down to cover the belt. But when she leaned forward again, the whole belt came into view.

Squall had been watching her and immediately recognized the belt as his own when he noticed that this belt was missing the same stud as his was.

"Where'd you get that belt? I had one just like it until it got stolen last night when I was walking home."

_Oh hell no! He knows! What am I going to do? I'm totally the worst ninja ever!_ Yuffie shot a look at Sora. He gave her a this-is-your-problem-don't-look-at-me look. She rolled her eyes at him and mouthed "Thanks". Mrs. Belle was writing the homework on the board as the bell that signaled class's end rang.

"Its…it's my friends. My friend Cloud's. He has tons so I didn't think that he'd miss one so I wore it today. But hey, why don't you take this one. I mean, yours got stolen and he has tons so really he won't miss this one. And besides, I wouldn't want you to think that everyone in this town is bad, so here." She quickly unfastened the belt and thrust it into his hands and followed Sora out of the room.

Squall looked at the belt in his hands. It was so familiar to him, the soft black leather and the same missing stud. It was weird that his gets stolen and then the very next day one just like his turns up. He turned the belt over. Sure enough, directly in the middle of the belt were the letters "SL" branded into the leather.

"Th-that bitch! This is my freakin' belt! Oh, she is so gonna get it!" He muttered to himself. He quickly fastened the belt around his waist, copied the assignment off the board, and left the classroom.

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-L U N C H-

Yuffie paid the older redheaded lunch lady for her lunch and then waited for Sora to pay. Together they sauntered over to their table across the cafeteria where Aerith and Cloud already sat. They placed their trays onto the table and then took their seats on the small round chairs that were attached to the table.

"Hey Sora! Hey Yuffie!" Aerith chirped. She was always smiling, it made Yuffie sick sometimes. Cloud only nodded at their presence. He never did talk too much. "How were your morning classes?"

Sora looked to Yuffie for the answer to this question. Yuffie was staring down at her food. "Fine. Boring. Same old, same old, we got a new kid. He's a—"

Yuffie was cut off as she looked to see what Aerith was flailing her arms around for. Yuffie looked across the cafeteria in the general direction of Aerith's motioning. That's when she saw him. Squall Leonhart was barely waving back to Aerith and nodded when she pointed to the empty seat at their table, which unfortunately was located next to Yuffie. He hadn't paid for his lunch and she could see that he was wearing the belt. Her belt. Okay, not really her belt, but it should be hers since she stole it. _No, not here. Why at our table, Aerith, why? What, is the whole world out to get me today? _

Aerith was seated again and Cloud was giving her a questioning look. "One of my duties as student council president is to show the new kids around. And I just thought that it would be nice if we let him sit with us. He must be having a tough time here anyways. So I just thought that it might be easier for him if he had a place to sit so he wouldn't have to sit alone. That's all." Aerith replied matter-of-factly.

"Huh." Was all Cloud replied.

Yuffie looked to Sora. "Switch seats with me."

Sora seemed to find her situation amusing. "No, I'm good thanks." He said with a grin on his goofy face. Yuffie punched him in the arm lightly, but hard enough to take the grin off his face.

"Ouch, what was that for?" He asked slightly annoyed now.

"Switch seats with me." Yuffie was begging now. Squall was the last person that she wanted to sit next to.

"No way! You just punched me in the arm! Maybe if you asked nicely." Sora replied, amused again.

"So-ra! Come-on!" Yuffie whined.

"Pshh…yeah right."

"Sora! Why not? Just this once?"

"Yuffie, no, just deal with it. Its only for lunch, it's not like your marrying him!" Just that thought sent a chill up Yuffie's spine.

Yuffie opened her mouth to protest again but stopped when she heard the sound of a tray being put down on the table. She froze. _Okay…just act natural. It's only lunch. Just gotta get through 20 minutes of it. It won't be that bad. Just don't mention the belt or the wallet. AND most importantly, don't look into his eyes. Those big beautiful eyes. _

The sound of Aerith's overly perky voice snapped Yuffie out of her thoughts. "Hey Leon! How's it going? How do you like your morning classes so far?"

"They're okay. The kids here are…interesting." When he finished his sentence, Yuffie could feel his eyes on her.

"Yeah, some of the kids here are definitely one-of-a-kind. If you need help getting caught up with your homework I'm sure Yuffie and Sora could help you out. They get together every day after school and do their homework. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you tagged along." Aerith said trying to be friendly. Yuffie looked up and glared at her. Sometimes she was too nice for her own good.

"Thank you, Aerith. I think that I will be needing help, especially in physics actually. At my old school I was taking physics as a senior this year but some things happened and I had to transfer. But your physics class here is way farther ahead than mine was, so some help getting caught up would be nice."

"Hold it. Wait just a minute!" Sora blurted out; sometimes he just couldn't help himself. "Did you say that you were a senior at your old school?"

Squall nodded, unfazed by the question.

"Then what the heck are you doing being enrolled here as a junior?"

Squall sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to prepare an answer that Sora would be able to understand. "There were…some _things_ that happened back in Traverse Town that resulted in me missing a lot of school my junior year and I didn't meet your schools requirements of attendance to be a senior. So they are making me repeat junior year."

"Sounds…scandalous! What kind of _things_ we talkin' here?" Sora asked looking up at Squall eagerly.

"Sora! That's enough!" Aerith snapped from the other side of the table. "Sorry Leon, you don't have to answer that question. Your past is your business."

Squall just picked at his salad, absorbed in his own thoughts. He seemed so lost in thought that he didn't notice the two girls walk up behind him.

"I heard we had a new kid today…" the taller of the two black haired girls purred. They were both dressed in the school uniform but they had shortened their skirts and unbuttoned the top few buttons of their shirts.

"But no one told us how good looking he'd be…" the shorter one replied, in an almost identical purr.

The shorter one leaned over Squall's shoulder and put her lips at his ear. "If you need someone to show you around the town you just give us a call, alright?" She reached down and put a piece of paper into his hand.

Squall gave no reply, but turned to look at them as they walked away, swinging their hips provocatively as they went. The shorter one smiled and winked at him as she returned to her table. He looked down at the paper which had a phone number on it. He hadn't realized that most everyone in the cafeteria was now staring at him. Slowly they began to turn back to their tables. When the girls were out of view Yuffie stuck a finger in her mouth like she was gagging herself.

"Eww, gross! They are seriously like walking STDs!" she said with traces of disgust clear in her voice.

"Who were they?" Squall asked, still a little dazed at what had just happened.

"The taller one is Tifa Lockheart and the shorter one was Rinoa Heartilly. Tifa is a senior and Rinoa is a junior. They've been best friends for as long as anyone can remember. Though they don't really have a good reputation…" Aerith stated simply.

"They're basically the school whores." Yuffie chimed in.

"Yuffie!" Aerith called appalled.

"She's right though." Sora said, coming to his friend's defense. "They'll pretty much do any guy that falls into their hands. They may look pretty but they're really evil. They do anything that they think makes them look good. Hell, I'd be willing to bet they'd even do each other."

"Sora!" Aerith said completely disgusted. "Don't worry about them Leon. They're going after you because you're new and you probably haven't heard the rumors about them yet. My advice to you would be to stay away from them if you can. Eventually they'll stop trying. But, it's totally your choice if you want to be friends with them or not, just keep in mind that they are bad news."

"Yeah, just ask Cloud about his stint with Tifa last year." Sora muttered, trying for only Squall to hear him.

"Sora!" Aerith snapped.

"That's none of your business, kid." Cloud spat at Sora.

"Thanks for the warning." Squall said trying to sound polite although the look on his face showed his annoyance.

Trying to quickly change the subject, Sora blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Hey Leon! Yuf and I are going to be hanging out today after school to do our homework. You should totally come!"

As soon as he had finished the sentence he could feel Yuffie's angry glare on him. He was scared to even look up at her for fear he'd be scarred for life. Luckily Aerith broke in and saved him. "Sora, I think that's a wonderful plan. You should go Leon. I think that they'd really be able to help you."

"Yeah, I guess so." Leon answered. He didn't seem as happy as Aerith did.

"Okay! Just walk home with Sora and Yuffie then."

"Uh…yeah, sure." He agreed.

"Okay then, let's meet outside the front gates after school. Kay Yuf?" Sora asked trying to get his friend to snap out of her anger.

_I'm seriously going to kill you Sora! Does that boy ever think before he talks? Why am I even friends with him? Like does he think at all? Shit, this really sucks. Okay, you've been doing well so far today, just say something here. Snap out of it and agree with him! Quick, everyone's staring at you and you look suspicious again!_

"Uh…y-yeah! Th-that's fine! I'll meet you two at the gates then." She said looking from Squall to Sora with a forced smile on her face. _Sora…you're __so__ dead later!_

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_RIIIING!!!!!!!!!!_

The last period bell sounded, releasing floods of students out into the halls and courtyard. Yuffie and Sora were leaving the front door of the school. It was a beautiful day. Warm, sunny, a perfect spring day.

"It's such a nice day! Let's do our homework outside in the garden today!" Sora exclaimed trying to sound upbeat about what he knew Yuffie was ready to kill him for.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with." She said as they neared the gates.

_Okay, there he is. Just act normal and cool. Don't let him sense any weakness. And avoid his eyes at all costs…damn those beautiful eyes!_

"Hey" Sora said casually as the three of them fell into step together.

"Hey." Squall replied trying to sound friendly, although one could still hear the boredom in his tone.

"So, what'd you think of your first day here?" Yuffie asked in an attempt to break through the awkward atmosphere that had settled around the group. Usually she and Sora had no problem finding things to talk about, but Squall just made everything so tense and awkward, at least for her.

"It's alright I guess. Definitely better than my old school. Though I don't know about some of the people here…" He ended his sentence with a smirk on his face that she knew was intended for her.

_I guess I should give him his wallet back today. Its only right I suppose since he knows it was me._ The three of them just walked the rest of the way absorbed in their own thoughts.

"You…live here?" Squall asked slightly amazed at the mammoth structure that was the castle.

"Yeah, Aerith, Cloud and I do."

"Wait, you guys aren't related are you?"

"No…we're….orphans" Yuffie replied after a period of awkward silence. "Cid took us in."

"Oh…" Squall said softly.

_Great, now I've made him feel bad._

"Well, come on. Let's get a snack first then well go out to the garden and get started on our homework." Yuffie announced trying to sound happier as she began to run towards the front door.

"Maybe Aerith'll make those cookies again!" Sora yelled as he hurried after her.

Squall walked faster to catch up to them. _Maybe this town won't be so bad after all. Some of the people here are so positive even after they've lost so much. Maybe this place will do me some good. And Yuffie isn't all that bad after all I guess…that is if I get my wallet back. _

"Hey! Wait up!" Squall yelled as he began to run after them. Maybe things had finally started to look up for him.

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**Next chapter will have insight into Squall's past, as well as Yuffies! (And it will hopefully be up sooner!)**


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